


Zack, the Wolf

by Leonawriter



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angeal Lives, Gen, Hojo and Hollander are awful as usual, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 10:59:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16240253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonawriter/pseuds/Leonawriter
Summary: The alterations Hojo makes to Zack during the attack on Midgar aren't nearly so benign, and it's not as if Zack doesn't have other things on his mind. Fortunately for the SOLDIERs, Zack makes a rather friendly wolf.He isn't exactly human anymore though, and that's going to change a few worldviews.





	Zack, the Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> I've... been working on this idea... for so damn long. Months and months' worth of 'oh, I could go with this, or this', and starting and losing work and restarting again. And now I've finally got it written to this point, and I can put it up.
> 
> The AU as I've talked about it over on my blog is longer, and involves more people, but I needed to end the first section somewhere.

In his defence, Zack would later say that he'd been distracted enough by the questions, and then the realisation that there was a weird gas filling the examination cubicle, and then the fact that he'd been coughing as he'd been reaching out for the door the moment Hojo said that he was done, and he was free to come out now, so he'd hardly even noticed what had been a sudden, sharp stabbing pain in the palm of his - thankfully non-dominant - hand.

It had been enough to make him shake his hand out a few times with a scowl before the mako kicked in and started to heal the wound up, and even then he'd quickly been distracted from the itching  _that_ caused by the sound of Genesis quoting LOVELESS, and then everything had been moving along so fast that by the next time he'd been free to think about anything, he'd... completely forgotten.

And everyone who knew him  _knew_ how bad his focus was. 

...

Almost nothing happens in the space between the attack on Midgar and the Shinra building and the day Aerith calls him to remind him that he'd said he'd build her a flower wagon.

Of course, it's the  _almost_ that's the problem, and the  _nothing_ that's the most frustrating.

He  _knows_ that something had be going on, he  _knows_ that there has to be something he could be doing, but instead even with the missions he's still been able to go on, it all feels minor, feels like he's killing time.

Going down to the slums gives him conflicted feelings. On the one hand, he  _wants_ to see Aerith. But on the other? The main reason he hadn't until now, even aside from just plain not realising how fast the time was flying by, was the feeling that not being in Shinra or doing his best to  _try_ and make contact with Sephiroth was kind of... running away, somehow.

The worst part was how when he thought about it like that, he had a bad habit of connecting  _running away_ with  _Angeal_ and Zack  _knew_ that wasn't fair, he knew what was going on with Angeal couldn't be easy and he'd seen how much stress it was causing, but it just... ever since Wutai, he'd... resented it.

The mixed feelings had left him confused, uncertain, and it was easy to blame everything that was going on for the weird nausea he was feeling from time to time, because Kunsel had told him over and over at one point how just because when you became SOLDIER you were enhanced and it became a lot harder to get sick, didn't make it impossible, and it didn't make any difference to those times you ended up with your stomach tied in knots.

Somehow, though, he knows that Angeal is there before he even hears those distinctive wingbeats. But it's the sound that gives him the context to realise that the smells of plants and apples and a lingering cold are  _Angeal_.

He doesn't think too much about it though, because there are more important things to worry about than  _when the hell did his sense of smell get that enhanced_ , like asking Angeal  _where the hell he's been_.

The vaguely sick feeling returns, and he tunes it out as best he can, because as much as he wants to just lose his temper and make Angeal stay, for him to just  _come home already_ , he knows that won't work, now. It hasn't for a while.

"Apologies," Angeal says, and it doesn't feel  _enough._ By the way Angeal looks away, the way he puts his hand to his mouth, Zack can only hope he knows that. "But, I am a buy man."

_Busy. Right - busy for weeks on end, and I haven't been stuck inside all the time-_

He cuts off that train of thought before he can say or do something he regrets,  _again._

"Yeah, whatever. I haven't been able to contact Sephiroth, either..."

He trails off, massaging headache he can feel coming on, and barely hears when Angeal asks if there was a problem, if something was wrong, and he shakes his head, because it's not like there's any good  _reason_ behind the way he's been so wound up over not knowing where Sephiroth is and what he's doing. Sephiroth can take care of himself, and Luxiere hadn't even been the first to tell him where the guy was, so it wasn't like he'd gone  _missing._

"...Zack?"

He sighs, and shrugs, and tells Angeal all he knows, which isn't much, and feels frustrated because he has a gut feeling like  _something_ is wrong, that something's off, and he just... he hasn't been able to figure out what.

Part of him really wants to tell Angeal, but Angeal is turning away, and his heart skips a beat and he suddenly feels cold, because there he goes again, right?

Maybe Angeal would know what to do... would know what was wrong, even, if he wasn't part of the problem.

...

If it weren't for how he felt like he was the only one feeling queasy on the flight, the way his senses kept picking up on  _every single thing_ , the vibrations going right through his legs and the noise giving him a headache as though it were just his first day on his enhancements, he'd have assumed that it was Tseng being a bad pilot. But even he can tell that the sudden change in the wind was the only thing that caused this crash, and the only one other than him who'd been having any problems - well, it seemed like for them, it wasn't a one-off thing.

Even  _with_ the crash, even with the extreme cold, he still feels better when he's back on solid ground.

He feels even better with that sense of companionship and understanding that comes from being able to laugh with Cloud, to tease Tseng.

A knot loosens in his chest, and he doesn't question why. He doesn't think that he needs to.

...

Genesis pauses halfway through their fight, eyes widening before he dances out of reach, and they go right back to circling like guard hounds.

Some of the same look that Zack had seen used against Angeal, along with something calculating and unsettlingly cruel, had settled in Genesis' eyes. He tightened his grip on his sword, impatient to get back to the fight he understood.

" _My friend, the fates are cruel..._ I wonder, how long has it been since  _you_ looked in a mirror?"

Zack doesn't understand, assuming that it's just another one of the man's confusing poetic drama references, and throws himself back into the fight, just to keep Genesis distracted, to keep him from going after Hollander again, hopefully to let the others catch the doctor before he can get away - but also to just plain knock some sense into his opponent, because even now, Zack knew that Angeal and Sephiroth were still  _worried_ about him, in their own ways.

He doesn't succeed.

His knees hit the hard floor, and he lets out a long whine of frustration and hurt at his failure, not for the first or even second time, and this time there won't  _be_ any more attempts, and all  _his fault_ , and the words  _such is the fate of a monster... like you and I_ echo around his head in a futile attempt to understand what Genesis could have possibly meant, because it  _didn't_ matter what they did to you, SOLDIER didn't mean monster-

It didn't.

It  _couldn't._

...

He'd seen - and fought - Copies before he'd even found the place where Zack and Tseng were.  _Angeal_ Copies. Which still made him shudder and feel sick when he stopped to think about it, and since he was here on a  _mission_ he didn't have a choice to do either of those things, so he didn't. Didn't think about it. It was just  _wrong,_ though, and that thought stuck with him.

So he almost wasn't surprised when his ears picked up the scratches and scuffling of monsters even while he was trying to decipher just what was going  _on_ between Angeal and Hollander, still reeling from Angeal  _actually_ trying to get him to fight again, when he'd thought things were getting  _better._

And then, just as he thought things were starting to even out again, the hairs on the back of his neck rose as the scuffling grew louder.

_Zack, let me show you._

The monsters gathered, and then - it was as though the world slowed down, and he could see every minute movement, hear every last gasping pant, his own heartbeat racing in his ears, the world turning grey-

-as though everything had to be happening to someone else, and he was only watching, because to admit it was  _him_ going through this meant that he'd have to either admit that Genesis was right, or worse,  _lose Angeal._

Caught between two things that he could not accept, Zack let himself go.

...

Angeal had been ready to bear the weight of his responsibilities, the suffering that  _he_ had caused. He had come to terms with what the consequences would be for a while now, even. After all, where was the honour in living a life like this, if it could even be  _called_ a life? An existence where the idea that he would harm someone he cared about no longer just a potential to train himself against, but that  _had already happened_ , that would inevitably happen again.

Zack... he  _trusted_ Zack. Despite all of the kid's flaws, he truly meant well.

If Angeal hadn't seen something within him all that time ago, then he wouldn't have trained him personally, wouldn't have suggested his promotion, wouldn't... trust him with _this_.

With destroying a threat, one that Angeal himself couldn't protect the world for, no matter how hard he tried, because how can you protect the world from  _yourself?_

What he  _hadn't_ been ready for was the sudden heavy weight that instead of merging into him, his cells re-absorbing the traits it had once given out, shoved him, hard in the chest, enough to push him over onto the floor and wind him breathless.

His head hits the stone floor, and for a single moment he's reminded of early training sessions with Genesis and Sephiroth where one of them - always him or Genesis, never Sephiroth - would end up hitting the simulation's ground, or floor, his brain knocking around in his head as he struggled to keep up with what was going on around him.

He blinked, as the sound of growling - far more guttural, with far more range and not enough mindlessness to be one of  _his_ \- came from on top of him.

Angeal's first thought was that some wild wolf or wolfish monster had broken in, and then there was worried terror that the thing would somehow mutate if he was bitten, but neither of these things explained why he couldn't hear the sound of Zack's sword, or the Copies being fought off, since none of them were, despite the command he'd given, coming any closer.

Hollander begins to laugh. The sound brings back that familiar anger that he'd felt, ever since Genesis had explained, brutally, how they weren't even  _human_ , and it was all Shinra's - _all_   _this man's fault._

"So," the scientist says, sounding far too pleased with himself even if there was an element of jealousy in that tone of voice, nowhere near the fear that had gripped him only moments before. "He really did it! And made it work!"

The wolf shifted, and snarled in Hollander's direction.

The movement allowed Angeal to see the other side of the wolf's head, and Hollander's words began to make sense in a horrifying way that he wanted to refuse, but he couldn't - because there were two thin lines of blood matting up the fur,  _black_ fur.

"What-  _what did you do to him?"_

Hollander stopped backing away again, and looked over, albeit warily due to the wolf still sitting on his chest.

"Me? I haven't been anywhere near the kid for ages, you know that. If anyone's to blame for this, you can probably blame Hojo. Though if it's gotten this far, I doubt anyone can reverse it, even me."

Angeal's hands - the Buster Sword having fallen when he had, but close enough to reach - clenched into fists.

_Zack. I'm... sorry. I wanted you to have a better life than this._

_..._

Tseng comes in onto the scene not long later, and Angeal has enough mental wherewithal to feel guilty for what he'd done to the man - and the blond infantryman who followed not far behind - but not enough emotional energy to do more than raise his head, let alone make any attempt at apology.

Since he hadn't made any move to continue his goal, the wolf -  _Zack, that's somehow Zack in there -_ had decided that he no longer needed to be pinned down like that, and had taken to prowling around him, snapping at the Copies if they got too close - and growling menacingly at Hollander if he ventured too  _far._

Which meant that Tseng was able to restrain the man, since Angeal certainly wasn't going to stop him even if his faith in the company he'd once been so loyal to had been shaken, though not quite as much as Genesis'. Zack, too, didn't seem to care, which only reinforced the idea home - that this really  _was_ Zack, that he still recognised them, even though in dog terms he was acting as spooked as he'd ever seen the farm dogs back home.

_"Sir? ...Yes, sir. I have the primary target in custody. There appears to have been an altercation of some sort, but the only ones present currently are myself, Strife, the Professor, and... Hewley. No. I lost sight of Fair. No, I don't think so. Understood."_

Hollander began to laugh, something reaching the edge of hysteria and testing the waters.

Because Zack was _right there._

...

Cloud had spent most of the journey from the crashed helicopter to the the point where the mission had really started either sharing stories about hometowns that didn't really have anything happen in them, or listening to Zack talk about his experiences with SOLDIER life.

A lot of that had featured Angeal - and if Tseng was right, then that was him, right there, the same guy who'd knocked him out so recently Cloud could still feel the bruises.

The good thing was that it looked as though he wasn't going to be doing anything else for a while, whatever it was that'd happened.

The less good thing was the  _wolf._  

And the way that, no matter what Cloud did, it kept  _staring_ at him.

"Er, sir? Tseng, sir...?" 

The wolf's ears twitched. Cloud breathed in slowly, and did his best to stay calm, because if he started to panic, then unless the SOLDIER or the Turk took care of it soon, he wasn't sure his gun would do much good.

"Angeal. Did that thing just come in here on its own, or is it one of yours somehow? I don't see any of the distinguishing features, but it hasn't been acting naturally."

The wolf's ears twitched again, and Cloud could've  _sworn_ he saw those eyes look over at Tseng, and then at Angeal. He  _knew_ wolves - better than most in Midgar, anyway, what with how common they were in the Nibel region, and he had to agree with Tseng. They were intelligent beasts, but not usually  _this_  intelligent, to the point where one looked like it could understand what you were saying.

"I... technically, I guess that's true."

"Then call it off."

The SOLDIER shook his head, with an expression that Cloud couldn't figure out.

"Can't do that - no, not because- look. He's - he  _isn't a threat._ " The wolf tilted its head, and huffed through the mouth. "Not... to us, at least."

"You don't seem sure," Tseng said, and if ever there was a time Cloud was reassured by the Turk's impassiveness in the face of danger while still being a bit beat up himself, this was it.

"This time last year I'd never have thought _I'd_ be a threat to anyone either. Look where I am now. It's... pretty hard to be  _sure_ about something like this after... everything."

The two men shared a look that suggested they understood something Cloud was still in the dark over. But then, he  _was_ still just in the army. He hadn't even made it into SOLDIER yet.

"Even so-"

"Even if I said anything," Angeal cut in, "there's no guarantee he's going to listen. At least... not anymore. I don't think I'd even _blame_ him."

Something about Tseng sharpened, something in the atmosphere changing, just like  _that._

He came slowly to the realisation that both of them were looking in his direction, and it was only the fact that neither of them seemed as worried or tense as he thought they ought to be that made him not outright panic.

He felt the heat of the large body come right up to him before he looked down and saw it, sleek black fur that spiked around the neck, and if Cloud forgot to look at the eyes he could tell himself that it was just a very big dog, but those eyes caught him, big and round and amber and full of danger.

The mouth opened, and for a split second all he saw were the teeth. He hadn't reached for his gun, or anything else for that matter, and now it was too late.

And then-

The tongue -  _just_ the tongue, too - was licking at his arm, right where he'd scraped it when he'd been thrown into the wall earlier. It was cold, and wet, and didn't scratch the same way Tifa's cat had when he'd tried petting it those few times.

"Angeal," Tseng said slowly. Carefully. Cloud would say that the Turk was feeling just as tense as he was, but Turks didn't  _get_ stressed like that. "Is there perhaps something else you wish to share?"

The SOLDIER covered his face with the hand that wasn't still leaning on the floor, and not for the first time, Cloud had to wonder how the man that Zack had gone on about on the way up here had become so  _exhausted._

"I... didn't do this to him," he said, giving a downright  _scary_ look in Hollander's direction, which gave Cloud a  _bad_ _feeling,_ considering how the last time that part of their mission had bene involved in any of this, he'd heard something about some kind of incurable illness, and Hollander saying... something, Cloud had been more focused on getting the guy and not letting him escape than figuring out what was going on. "But I  _do_ feel responsible. Because that... that's  _Zack_."

The wolf - Zack? How could it be  _Zack_ , though? He'd seen Zack only a few minutes ago, running up and over to him to ask if he was okay.

And yet, there were stories about monsters and spells that could turn you into a toad. Cloud had never seen it, but he'd heard it talked about like it was real, and not just some old rumour.

So - why not?

The wolf. Zack.  _Zack_ trotted back over to Angeal, and everything that Cloud knew about wolves saw the way it -  _he_ \- flopped down against Angeal, and knew there was  _concern_ there.

Cloud felt himself wobble on his feet, and he told himself it was all because of the way he'd hit his head earlier.

"We've got as long as it takes for the backup I sent for to arrive for you to explain the situation. And if we're lucky, to be able to recover it before we arrive back to Midgar. Are we understood?"

Cloud swallowed, hard.

Angeal put one hand on black fur, and nodded.


End file.
